Ask HN: What's some great fiction for founders and entrepreneurs? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's some great fiction for founders and entrepreneurs?

20 pointsmalloryerik17 comments

Everything from directly related to somehow just feels right.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

I can't resist mentioning this book. It's not fiction, but it reads like fiction - it has all the ingredients for a compelling fiction story: oversized characters, delusions of grandeur, deception, giant egos, and so much more. But it's not fiction, it's all true. Hollywood wants to make it into a movie, and when you read the book you'll know exactly why.

'The Deadline: A novel about project management' by Tom DeMarco

Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim (sequel to the Phoenix Project)

Makers by Cory Doctorow

Daemon & Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez

The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson

Zodiac by Neal Stephenson

The Blue Ant trilogy (Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History) by William Gibson

Omnitopia: Dawn by Diane Duane

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

Lock In by John Scalzi

Rascal Money by Joseph Garber

The Door into Summer by Heinlein

Has a kooky invention, lots of great cat stuff, talk of money, founder disputes and sci-fi. 10/10.

Silicon Valley on HBO. Fabulously unrealistic, but some characters are uncomfortably believable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon

"The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win" by Gene Kim et. al.

I’ve only read the unicorn project but if Phoenix is similar, I found it fairly entertaining in the first third, then it started to feel like stereotypes monologuing. I think it’s an entertaining book and if you’re looking for affirmation and catharsis at the dysfunction of bureaucracy, or maybe want to feel a little smug, but I didn’t feel like it really helped me evolve.

I would also like to see recommendations for fiction for social skills and leadership.

Most pitch decks turn out to be fiction. Try those.

Keeper of the Lost Cities gives a sense of adventure and focus on the present that feels just right.

Kill Process by William Hertling

And

Kill Switch also by William Hertling

I like Tom Clancy's writing.

Cryptonomicon

It's amazing how the meaning of "crypto" has changed so much in a few decades.

This! Cryptonomicon turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. I had to wait a bit though. In my early 20s I wasn't ready. Now 20 years later I enjoyed every page.

The Noble House

S1 filings :)

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